At midday today (Thursday) Christians will go to No.10 Downing Street to protest against the Government’s recent announcement to build a new generation of nuclear power plants.
In a symbolic act Christian Ecology Link (CEL) members Ruth Jarman, Eleanor Orr and Jonathan Essex will present the Prime Minister with a solar powered torch and a sample of insulation material as symbols of the energy that can be generated from the sun, wind and waves, and the importance of the need for a drastic reduction in the use of energy.
They will also give Gordon Brown a letter outlining their requests for a non-nuclear future and a copy of Faith and Power, the CEL report which proposes energy reduction and investment in renewable energy forms, rather than new nuclear power stations, as the way forward.
Ruth Jarman of CEL, a strong advocate for moderating consumption of energy, said: “There is no scientific consensus about the safety of nuclear power. Ethical questions concerning radiation risks and the transportation and disposal of nuclear waste are major causes of concern which have not been fully addressed. As Christians, we seek an energy strategy which reflects love of the Creator, expresses care for the whole Creation, and is informed by Christian principles of care, peacemaking, justice and love for our neighbours”.
CEL maintains that a new generation of nuclear power stations will not significantly reduce CO2 emissions, and yet will cost (including development and decontamination) at least £100 billion and deliver too late. Investment in energy reduction and conservation, and renewable forms of energy (solar, wind and wave power) would deliver far greater reductions in CO2 emissions, far sooner, they say.
CEL is requesting that the Government use its legislative power to urgently drive down energy consumption, for example, by immediately banning the manufacture of standby buttons in all electrical goods, thus saving 8% of the domestic electricity currently used. Furthermore, a ban on the manufacture of inefficient light bulbs would save the same amount of energy per year as would be produced by two nuclear power plants.
CEL is also urging that the Government’s current paltry investment in renewables be escalated to a level that will not only fulfil Britain’s ‘duty to the Earth’ in terms of its contribution to climate change, but will also ‘lead the world towards a truly sustainable way of living’.